Chevron’s flagship Gulf Coast refinery is processing its first Venezuelan oil shipment since the U.S. capture of Nicolás Maduro in Caracas last month, turning heavy, tar-like crude into gasoline, diesel and jet fuel for American consumers.
“We’ve been [in Venezuela] for a long time, and it looks like things are starting to go better for both the Venezuelan people and I would say for the American people too, because what’s going to happen is the more that oil that flows to a place like Pascagoula or some of the other refineries here, it drives down the cost,” Andy Walz, President of Downstream, Midstream & Chemicals at Chevron, told FOX Business in an exclusive interview Thursday.
“That oil is going to be cheaper, it’s closer, and it’s going to help these refineries run the way they were designed, so I think it’s a really good thing.”
Walz’s comments were among the first public acknowledgments by Chevron of processing Venezuelan crude in U.S. refineries under the company’s renewed sanctioned operations.
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FOX Business was granted exclusive access inside Chevron’s facility in Pascagoula, Mississippi on Thursday, where correspondent Lauren Simonetti reported near distillation units processing Venezuelan oil that arrived weeks ago.
FOX Business was granted access to Chevron’s Pascagoula, Mississippi, facility Thursday, where correspondent Lauren Simonetti reported near distillation units processing Venezuelan crude that arrived in recent weeks.
The refinery currently processes about 50,000 barrels per day of Venezuelan crude, and Chevron has indicated it could take on another 100,000 barrels per day across its U.S. system as additional shipments arrive.
Chevron’s Pascagoula refinery is among a limited number of U.S. Gulf Coast facilities configured to process heavy sour crude like Venezuela’s, alongside complex refineries in New Orleans, Lake Charles, Port Arthur, Houston and Corpus Christi.
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The refinery also has the advantage of bringing Venezuelan oil directly into its harbor, eliminating the need to offload to smaller ships or rely on offshore pipelines.
“It’s a pretty efficient system,” Walz said, pointing to a large ship in the background.
“This refinery runs 300,000 [total] barrels a day, so you’ve got to have ships showing up here all the time, and it’s really convenient to have it close, but it’s also important, and it’s a better way to run your operation.”
Chevron CEO Mike Wirth recently told FOX Business that the company is expanding its Venezuelan operations, highlighting its long-standing presence and growth in output under its current sanctioned authorization.
“We’ve been there for most of the last 100 years. We’ve got an important partner in the development and growth of Venezuela. We’re being repaid debt that we’re owed, and others that have left have had more difficulty with that,” Wirth said.
“We’ve grown our production over the last couple of years from 50,000 barrels a day to 250,000, so five-fold. And over the next 18 to 24 months, we see the potential to grow by another 50%.”
